It is with a great sense of relief and thankfulness that I can now report that all charges have been dropped against my client Dr. Sami Al-Arian. Minutes ago, United States District Judge Anthony J. Trenga signed the order dismissing the indictment against Dr. Al-Arian. The case was before Judge Leonie M. Brinkema, but it was Judge Trenga who signed the order on Friday afternoon.
I have represented Dr. Al-Arian for roughly eight years as we fought against his deportation and the dismissal of these charges. We have litigated the case from the 11th Circuit to the 4th Circuit to the Supreme Court and back again. It has been a long and difficult road for the Al-Arian family.
In September 2004, Dr. Sami Amin Al-Arian was charged, along with various co-defendants, in a 53-count Superseding Indictment. Following a highly publicized six-month trial in 2005, Dr. Al-Arian was acquitted on eight counts and the jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict on the remaining nine counts. There were only two jurors who voted against acquitting Dr. Al-Arian of all of the remaining counts.
As the government considered whether to bring charges against Dr. Al-Arian on the remaining counts, the parties began to negotiate a plea agreement. As a result of these negotiations, Dr. Al- Arian executed a written plea agreement on February 28, 2006. Pursuant to this agreement, Dr. Al-Arian committed to pleading guilty to Court 4 of the Superseding Indictment. The narrative of this count largely dealt with a statement that Dr. Al- Arian made to a reporter and his support with an immigration matter for a person “associated” with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ). The count notably did not admit to any of the core terrorism charges levied against him regarding alleged leadership in PIJ and the other terrorism acts. Dr. Al-Arian was sentenced to a 57-month term of imprisonment on May 1, 2006.
In fact, as evidence of the high-profile nature of the case, then-Attorney General Ashcroft called an unorthodox press conference to announce Dr. Al-Arian’s arrest. Ashcroft had publicly and repeatedly cited the prosecution as a major victory in his administration. See, e.g., Paul Lomartire, Professor Says Terrorism Arrest ‘All About Politics,’ Cox News Service, Feb. 20, 2003. A movie has since been made of the trial and hundreds of articles have appeared in local and national publications regarding the case.
The trial loss and plea agreement was viewed as a significant defeat for the Justice Department. In the immediate aftermath of the settlement and public criticism, prosecutors set out to call Dr. Al-Arian to a grand jury despite his prior insistence that he would not cooperate in such an investigation as a condition of his plea agreement.
The result was a highly abusive incarceration of Dr. Al-Arian and eventually this indictment for criminal contempt (for refusing to testify) in 2008 by the Justice Department. He was indicted despite my producing a polygraph showing that he could offer nothing of the matters under investigation by the grand jury and a sworn detailed declaration of his lack of knowledge. We filed a series of motions contesting the indictment for selective prosecution, errors in the indictment, and a clear violation of the agreement made by the Justice Department.
A few years ago, we were able to have Dr. Al-Arian released from jail and later we were able to have his home confinement conditions lifted. He has lived with his family in Virginia.
This case remains one of the most troubling chapters in this nation’s crackdown after 9-11. Despite the jury verdict and the agreement reached to allow Dr. Al-Arian to leave the country, the Justice Department continued to fight for his incarceration and for a trial in this case. It will remain one of the most disturbing cases of my career in terms of the actions taken by our government. However, despite our often heated hearings in this case, I thank those at the Justice Department who agreed to the dismissal of the indictment. This family has been put through over a decade of grinding, unrelenting litigation. It is time to bring closure to this matter once for all.
I am very thankful to the many law students who have assisted me on this case as well as the help of the law firm of Bryan Cave as local counsel in the case. We have represented Dr. Al-Arian pro bono because of the important constitutional and ethical issues raised by his case. The core values underlying this defense ultimately prevailed but only due to the extraordinary effort of Dr. Al-Arian, his loyal family, and a wide array of supporters. It is often said that Justice delay is Justice denied. However, despite this delay, justice did ultimately prevail for not just the Al-Arians but our legal system.
Jonathan Turley
STATEMENT FROM AL-ARIAN FAMILY
June 27, 2014
We are glad that the government has finally decided to drop the charges against Sami Al-Arian. It has been a long and difficult 11 years for our family in what has ultimately been shown to be a political case. We are relieved that this ordeal finally appears to be at an end. We hope that today’s events bring to a conclusion the government’s pursuit of Dr. Al-Arian and that he can finally be able to resume his life with his family in freedom.
We are so grateful to our brilliant attorney, Jonathan Turley and his legal team for their tireless efforts and advocacy on our behalf. Thank you to all of our supporters around the country and across the globe, who have stood behind us throughout the years.
“I came to the United States because I valued living as a free person, one who is able to advocate in a democratic society. Unfortunately, the U.S. has been turning into a less free society, a police and surveillance state, especially after 9/11.” — Sami Al-Arian
And he is right. Most Americans aren’t paying attention.
Sami Al-Arian, Professor Who Defeated Controversial Terrorism Charges, is Deported from U.S.
By Murtaza Hussain and Glenn Greenwald
From The Intercept posting:
Speaking to The Intercept, Al-Arian said that he harbored no resentment despite his ordeal and that he now feels “at peace” with the conclusion of his legal ordeal.
Describing his visceral, firsthand experience of America’s eroding democratic values Al-Arian said, “I came to the United States because I valued living as a free person, one who is able to advocate in a democratic society. Unfortunately, the U.S. has been turning into a less free society, a police and surveillance state, especially after 9/11.”
“However, I’m very encouraged by the millions of Americans who are pushing back against the forces of intolerance and exclusionary politics. I leave hopeful that the tide is turning because as history has seen, when the truth is made known to them, Americans do not support oppression and discrimination.”
My point is that they are still making victims they may be funneling all of these profits to the ira through major us banks. This is where direction should be focused.
Oh and the sixth circuit? Ohio in any case COA allowed to proceed a Rico complaint against Lerner Sampson rothfuss boa MERS maybe another respondent slorp v Lerner
Tampa of course not ramp changed it back three times. Curses to keyboards
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/northernireland/10807828/Gerry-Adams-released-over-Jean-McConville-murder.html
http://www.dailynewsen.com/world/belfast-police-seek-evidence-of-adams-ira-past-h2484817.html
Gerry Adams is a world infamous fund raiser for the ‘political’ arm of Ira maybe called PIRA. Like most of the rest of you my knowledge of the Ira was scant. Then it became known in ramp, a sleepy little town off of ybor city, that an Ira bar had been opened and every now and then you’d hear a little something. That bar is four green fields CO owned w Colin Breen, by former and perhaps part time present ausa roberteoneill. Adams held numerous fundraisers for pira Ira??? There.at the bar.
Breen has been known to express hatred toward Brits and others he has somehow involved himself in three generations of our family. He was a stranger to me so I can only conjecture his motivation. I had no idea that he even knew O’Neill until the DOJ nomination. They host a running club called ‘cool running’. Over the course of years of harassment I uncovered many names involved and they would be found on the cool running list.
This guy Gerry Adams is arrested for questioning after a lawsuit brought to us by Irish police to get some interview tapes pertaining to Ira history he is arrested in may. Robert o Neill was one of the original prosecutors of sami. All charges were finally dropped two months later. And O’Neill now works for louis freeh who apparently remains seriously injured from a single person accident.. is it a reach to believe that all of these events are connected?? Someone dragged that woman away from her children kicking and screaming in broad daylight. It was a vicious and vile act and apparently a mistake. Unknown on my part. I, and my children, are so in need of advocacy it’s starting to hurt. At least it would be interesting work !!!
http://cltampa.com/dailyloaf/archives/2010/11/02/john-sugg-on-why-wont-the-tampa-trib-tell-you-what-people-in-nashville-know-about-steve-emerson#.VBI7DZUg_IV. That’s me in the comment section
Typos above….. Spying lying and fabricating of evidence, they get away with it because they isolate the people first while harming their finances. It’s such a hostile and degrading experience I would not wish it on anyone. It would be one thing if it were just me but they also began to target a younger kid who did NOTHING but walk into the courthouse because no one wanted to go in at all it is so toxic. They didn’t even know his name but when they acquired it they found him on Facebook and began to target him with young girls who weren’t as young as they said and who lied about their names to disguise they are related to very powerful but corrupt people and some in the legal field. This could happen to anyone. My sin was having the courage to say, ‘that’s not right.’ and the targeting began, this isn’t making this about me, it’s about the continuation of persecution. The sadistic behavior is now aimed at us and we, as well, are wholly innocent of anything. Certainly a young kid who did nothing but walk into a courthouse and sit down to wait is innocent. Yet targeted. So there is no denying they are targeting us and it wraps around what was said here and about this matter in the past. We can’t be the only ones.
. I think people should be made aware. This is nothing that should be expected in living a normal life. No reasonable person would say it is tolerable to have a child targeted for accompanying someone into a courthouse and doing nothing but sitting and waiting. That would all be on video. The clerks were whiting out dates, changing them and otherwise altering motions.
We’re not on the wrong here. If you care as I care, please help. It’s important and it’s wrong. And it would be easy to fix with the right advocacy.
I left my email with your new aide or her replacement for the week and your old one who left 071114. I feel it is of utmost urgency I speak with you on this matter. My email has been gone through we are followed everywhere, I believe an inquiry was fabricated and possibly another one to make this one look good. Very coincidental to all of this wrongful foreclosure with the robosigned and fabricated documents. . It is the same exact strategy As in USA v Conn. My social security files were also gone through. Even the SSA was extremely puzzled. She was so upset she turned around the computer and showed me which is strictly forbidden, I only want to find out who is having me followed and why. I think you may already know at which time i would ask you to please help me. I have done nothing wrong and can provide reference. This case would potentially have as big consequence domestically. People just have no idea what these folks seem capable of with the dying and fabrcating. I have not had one minute’s peace since commenting here. Also other things have occurred. All in all I need an advocate very badly, sat least briefly. I will not hold you to it but I believe I am in the process of being railroaded for doing no more than speaking the truth and my opinion. I hope you will help. If I were not frightened I would not ask. They admit this fabricating by rothfuss and by Conn. All available on pacer. Shellie hill fabricated with rothfuss. Conn had multiple law firm employees they admitted to marl wohlander. They are trying to scare me but also trying to destroy my reputation they have a rep for framing people but this is actually in pacer and on the court pleadings. I really need an advocate.
Congratulations to the Venerate Professor.
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Was it the compelling presentation of the predominance of the merits,
or the clout and prestige of the man?
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The government is the subject. The citizens are the sovereign.
It takes two to tango.
Only one can be right. If one was right, the other was wrong.
What is the penalty for the one who was wrong?
For the accused, it was, potentially, prison.
For the government the penalty is…what?
Tyranny and oppression of the sovereign…by the subject?
A wrong needs to be righted.
A wrong needs to be righted.
They are also allowing these tactics to be used by rogue individuals and maybe rogue LEO and possibly those posing as LEO. It is extremely frightening and the cost to a peaceful life is near unbearable